Advisors counsel SBY against banning Ahmadiyah

Desy Nurhayati ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 04/23/2008 1:07 AM  |  Headlines

The Presidential Advisory Council is advising President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to cancel the issuance of a joint ministerial decree to outlaw "heretical" Islamic sect Jamaah Ahmadiyah.

A ban on Ahmadiyah would be a "bad precedent" to Indonesia's democracy and freedom of religion, council member and legal expert Adnan Buyung Nasution told a news conference after a meeting with sect leaders here Tuesday.

At the meeting, Ahmadiyah representatives were accompanied by activists from the Alliance of Religious and Belief Freedom.

"We will immediately advise the President to prevent the issuance of the decree for the sake of upholding democracy, tolerance and freedom of religion," Buyung said.

"We only have a little time to analyze the issue and meet with the President before the joint decree is issued. But we can assure that we will seriously handle this matter."

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo Adi Sucipto said last week the government would issue a joint decree based on a recommendation by the Coordinating Board for Monitoring Mystical Beliefs in Society (Bakor Pakem).

The decree is currently being drafted by the Religious Affairs Ministry, the Home Ministry and the Attorney General's Office.

Bakor Pakem recommended the government outlaw Ahmadiyah for failing to honor the 12-point declaration regarding faith and social values consistent to Islamic values after being given three months to prove its commitment.

The interdepartmental board led by the junior attorney general of intelligence said it found Ahmadiyah had continued to follow activities that deviated from mainstream Islamic teachings.

Buyung said the board and the planned joint decree had no strong legal basis, and were only serving to take repressive actions against a group of people.

"We think the establishment of the board itself has no firm legal basis even though they acted based on the 1965 law on the prevention of the misuse and disgrace of religion," he said.

Buyung was quoted by detik.com as saying all but one member of the nine-member Presidential Advisory Council opposed a ban on Ahmadiyah.

He identified the disagreeing member as Ma'ruf Amin, who is also deputy leader of the Indonesian Ulema Council that publicly declared Ahmadiyah a "heretical" Islamic sect.

Ahmadiyah spokesman Ahmad Mubarik said his group slammed the Bakor Pakem pronouncement that the sect hadn't committed to the 12-point declaration.

There should be an independent team, instead of the board, to decide whether Ahmadiyah had complied with the declaration or not, he said.

Ahmadiyah advocacy team member Lamardy said the sect demanded the President protect people in their religious beliefs.

Bakor Pakem, which was established in 1994, consists of senior officials from the Attorney General's Office, the Indonesian Military, the National Police, the Religious Affairs Ministry and the Home Ministry.

The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, which is grouped in the Alliance of Religious and Belief Freedom, urged the Attorney General's Office to dissolve the board, saying it violated people's basic rights. 

Comments (14)  |   Post comment
A  |   A  |   A  |   Mail to a friend  |  Printer Friendly Version |  Digg it!  |  Add to Del.icio.us!  |  Add to Reddit!  |  Stumble it!   |  Share on facebook  

Nafees Hamid (not verified) — Sun, 05/04/2008 - 3:58am

The Ahmadiyya Community is a very peaceful sect with bracnches in over 190 countries. The members have never engaged in any form of violence. I am very sorry to see that such a peaceful sect who say and practice 'Love for all, Hatred for None' should be persecuted. The constitution of Indonesia allows freedom of religion. I do not see why the Government should come between man and God. If their beliefs are not causing any harm to the society, why bann them.

I must mention a historical fact here that in the past any government that has tried to act against the Ahmadiyya Faith has faced numerous problems and the country has been in turmoil eversince.

I would appeal to the Govt and President of Indonesia to stop the persecution against Ahmadis.

Amin Ali (not verified) — Sun, 04/27/2008 - 3:19pm

Religion is between man and his Maker and nobody has the right to decide whether the other party is a believing man or not!!!
The history of Islam is full of instances where one sect deemed the other as "non Muslim" and if we are to seriously take what they say as absolute truth, then there is no standing sect of Islam at present in the world who can claim they are Islamic. All will fall under the label of "non Muslim".
Ahmadiyyah as a muslim sect has been present in Indonesia for many many years and no President of Indonesia had declared them as non Muslim or ban them! Why is it now when the whole world is so worried about Islamic militants and extremists, must the present President of Indonesia bow to "people who thinks they are the representatives of God on earth" and ban the Ahmadiyyah? These people must ask themselves whether they are truly Muslim before deciding the faith of others!! Islam is a religion of peace and is universal. No one has the right to hijack Islam and present it as their own!!
Banning Ahmadiyah now will surely open the doors to banning other sects of Islam, or for that matter, sects of other religions who do not see eye to eye with the mainstream groups.That will be a sad day when we move back in history and not progress with the world. The living example here is Pakistan where Ahmadiyyah is banned and look what has happened to that country ever since!

Imran (not verified) — Thu, 04/24/2008 - 2:45pm

The beauty of Indo society is love and harmony. Let's hate not succeed!

Mohammad Ahmad (not verified) — Thu, 04/24/2008 - 10:12am

I condemn the intolerance being exhibited against the Jamaah ahmadiyya. It will be a sad day for Indonesia and Islam if such intolerance is backed by legal authority.

As a member of the Ahmadiyya anjuman Ishaat-i-Islam Lahore, however, We do not agree with the precepts of Jammah Ahmadiyya and would like to convey this to the readers of this post. We believe in the absolute finality of prophethood, meaning there can be no old or new prophet after Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). This was the belief held by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmed as show below from his own writings

In the words of the founder of the movement, “ the essence of our religion is -La ilah-a illallah, Muhammad ur Rasul ullah, i.e., none deserves to be served but God and Muhammad is His Apostle, And further: “ Our belief which we hold in this world’s life - with which by the grace of God we hope to depart from this world - is this that our Lord and Master Muhammad, the Chosen, may peace and blessings of Allah be on him, is the last of the prophets and the most excellent of messengers. Through him religion was brought to perfection and the blessings were made complete by which man following the right course, can attain to God. And we believe, being certain in the highest degree, that the Holy Qur’an is the last of the heavenly books, and not a jot or tittle can be added to its laws and limits and orders and commandments, nor can aught be diminished from it.”

“And God speaks to His chosen ones in this ummat and they are dyed with the dye of the prophets but they are not actually prophets, for the Qur’an has bought to perfection the need of the law and they are only given a right understanding of the Qur’an.”

“ There is no need now to follow separately the prophethoods and books that have gone before; for the prophethood of Muhammad comprises them all…All truths that lead to God are in it, no new truth will be revealed after it nor was any truth revealed before it which is not contained in it. Hence all prophethoods come to finality in this prophethood, and so it ought to have been, for everything that has a beginning has also an end.”

“Who sent our Holy Prophet after all the prophets so that all people may be gathered together under one flag.”
Izala-i-auham, p.137, published 1891
Mawahibur Rahman, pp. 66,67, published 1903
Al-wasiyyat, p.9, published1905
Haqiqat-ul-Wahy (supplement to), p.44 published 1907

Sikder Taher Ahmad (not verified) — Thu, 04/24/2008 - 12:38am

We want to see Indonesia as a secular country.

Dr. Werner Kraus (not verified) — Thu, 04/24/2008 - 12:31am

We all have to learn to live beside people who do not share our convictions - religious or other wise. After all that's what democracy is all about. Islam, they say, is a religion of tolerance, isn't it? So where is the problem?

M robson (not verified) — Wed, 04/23/2008 - 10:10pm

its only a matter of time before the new world order take over...America has nafta, Europe has the EU and Asia has asean..soon it will be 1 world 1 government so it does not matter what Indonesia does today its all about the next twenty years when the people are fed up with the government of today and beg for 1 world 1 government

The Reader Latif Khan (not verified) — Wed, 04/23/2008 - 5:19pm

T0 me, religion is btween man and God. It is upto the person to follow his teaching without interference and maintain faith, keep loyalty with the state. The state has nothing to do with any religion but to treat all a like and equal citizens,irrespective of their colour creed and faith.
As I know Ahmadiyah people are peace lovers and knowledgeable. They believe in the same Holy Quran with advanced interpretation of certain verses which they back-up with supporting suras of Quran translated by previous scholars of Islam.
This will be a great tragedy if Government goes on declaring them as non-Muslim. Only God can decide this not any govenment.

Abdul Aziz, Sri Lanka (not verified) — Wed, 04/23/2008 - 3:06pm

I hope the Indonesian President respect the proposals of hia advisory Committee and also have a firm faith that His Excellency the President of Indonesia would not take the law of God into his own hands and thus will be protected from the wrath of Allah. O, Allah, make it so. I also recall the fate of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Gen. Zia-ul-Huq of Pakistan who were in forefont to do attrocities against the follwers of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian. Please learn a lesson from the so-called Islamic State of Pakistan.

Jake Charles (not verified) — Wed, 04/23/2008 - 2:07pm

I am Indonesian, and I have not forgotten Pancasila. It is the slogan of life.

12next ›last »

What's On

more
more
more